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SHEKOMEKO 






OR, THE MORAVIANS IN DUTCHESS COUNTY. 



BY REV. SHELDON DAVIS. A. H. 




POUGHKEEPSIE: 

06BORNE & XILLEY, POINTER*. 

1858. 



^ 






it 



PREFACE. 



The compilation of the following pages is a tribute of affection- 
ate regard and admiration for the singular Christian faithfulness and 
zeal, as well as general soundness in gospel doctrine, by which the 
Moravians have been distinguished. Nor has the striking fact been 
without its special interest, thai from the beginning of their very ex- 
traordinary and most successful missionary movements, they have 
ever been regarded with favor by the authorities of the Church of 
England, as an ancient Protestant Episcopal Church, deriving its 
Apostolic authority at all times entirely independent of Rome, from 
the Primitive times. The attention of the writer was first called to 
these interesting memorials in the discharge of his duties as Mis- 
sionary of Dutchess County. And the labor of collecting them has 
been more than rewarded, in the contemplation of such noble examples 
of Christian devotion and Christian Faith, and the manifest evi- 
dence of the Pivine blessing. 

The principal books consulted have been: — 

G. H. Loskiel's History of the United Brethren, 

Holmes' " " " 

Crantz's " " " 

Life of Count Zinzendorff, by Spangenberg, 

Heckewelder's Narrative, 

Southey's Life of Wesley, 

And the Documentary History of New York, Volume 3 

Pleasant Valley, May 50th, 1858. 



SHEKOMEKO 



The memory of the wise and good, of the virtuous and just, of 
those who unrewarded in this life, have been willing to labor and 
suffer for the benefit of their fellow-men, should ever be held in 
veneration, and should ever be cherished as the most valuable her- 
itage to those who may afterwards profit by their example, or reap 
the fruits of their toil. All other worldly possessions are compari- 
tivcly worthless. They decay and vanish, and ultimately come to 
nought, but 

The sweet remembrance of the just 
Shall flourish when they sleep in dust. 

It is with reference to such sentiments as these that we propose 
to call attention to, and to gather together for preservation, the 
scattered memorials of the ancient Moravian mission at Shekomeko, 
the first successful Moravian mission to the heathen in North Amer- 
ica, and among the first efforts of a body of men, who, above all 
others, have distinguished themselves for their missionary zeal, and 
for the extraordinary success of their missionary labors, 

We would not willingly forget — we would rather embalm in our 
memories for perpetual preservation, the whole record of this worthy 
and noble people. But we feel especially bound as far as we are 
able, to rescue from oblivion, such notices of their noble and self- 
denying deeds as form a part of the history of our own imme- 
diate vicinity; and to appropriate as peculiarly our own, both as re- 
spects duty and privilege ; the memory of good examples, and gen- 
erous conduct, and self-denying devotion to the good of others, on 
the part of those to whom we have succeeded; and with whose names, 
in the order of time, on the ever unfolding scroll of history, whether 
written or unwritten; doubtless written in the annals of Him who 
holds our times in his hand, our names shall also be inscribed. 



6 SHEKOMEKO. 

Before entering upon the more particular history of the mission 
at Shekomeko, we will briefly glance at the previous history of this 
very remarkable people. 

The Moravians claim, and that claim has never by intelligent 
historians been disputed, to have descended from on*' ui' the ear- 
liest churches founded by the Apostle St. Paul, in Ulyrieum, (Rom. 
15: 19,) and by the Apostle Titus in Dalmatia, (2 Tim. 4: 10,) 
viz : The Sclavonian branch of the Greek or Eastern Church. 

Christianity was introduced into Bohemia and Moravia by two 
Greek Ecclesiastics, Cyrillus and Methodius, in the ninth century 
About this time occurred tin- great schism between the Eastern and 
Western churches, which has continued to the present day, and 
which is now r< ! on the one hand by the Greek Church of 

Constantinople and Russia, and their dependencies, now number- 
ing some 60 or 70 millions of souls; and on the other hand by the 
Church of Rome, the Church of England, the Moravian and other 
Protestant chun 

The Bohemian and Moravian Churches were thus unfortunately 
placed between two powerful antagonistic bodies, both of whom, 
but especially the Church of Rome, never scrupled to use the civil 
sword with all its | nforce submission to il - and 

to compel obedience to the doctrines and practices which i: 
joined. The controversy arose in the first place from the infamous 
attempt of the Church Rom rnChurch 

by its own authority, an alteratioi symbol of 

Christendom, the Nict no oi • i d, and thus to pa^ 
6ubso<jU.-iit corruptions of primi il >. which has indelibly 

Btamped upon the forehead of the Papacy, the mark of Anti-Christ 

The Bohemians and Moravians adhei 1 t" tl tent faith; 

and hence a long Beriea of I - 'ill upon 

them, in order t<> Bubject them, if po • the Papal Set 

.- ions they endi immon w ith the Wal I 

Pranoe and I with whom, ' pari the) Bymbolized 

in doo trine, and for a considerabl apparently identi- 

fied, [ndeed Peter Waldo, thi F the Walden 

sian churches, is Baid to have finally Bet tied and found :• 
grave in Bohemia, From this period to the rise of John Wickliffe, 
.- Oxford, in England, in th< irl of the i 1th Century, and 

J hn Ha and Jerome oi I ' is the latter pari of tin- 

Century, the Boh< mians, Moravians and Waldi .itiuued to 



SHEKOMEKO. 



suffer similar persecutions, until the beginning of the Reformation; 
when, for the most part, they became absorbed in that general 
movement; and though the Moravians in particular, retained their 
ancient regimen, still they are little known in the history of subse- 
quent times, except under the general name of Protestants; a term 
which embraces everything hostile, and often nothing but what is 
hostile, to the Church of Rome. As will appear in the sequel, the 
Moravian Church was founded not so much on protest against Rome, 
as on the basis of the original Christian faith. 

With reference to John Huss, who is particularly claimed by 
the Moravians, as a representative of their Church, but who was 
cruelly martyred by the Papists in 1415, and who, among his last 
words, while burning at the stake, as if in prophetic foresight of the 
dawning Reformation, exclaimed to his tormentors, "A hundred 
years hence, and you shall answer for this before God and me." — 
We cannot forbear to present the testimony of the principal nobili- 
ty of Bohemia to the Romish Council of Constance in that year. — 
" We know not for what purpose you have condemned John Huss, 
Bachelor in Divinity, and preacher of the gospel. You have put 
him to a cruel and ignominious death, though convicted of no here- 
sy. We protest with the heart, as well as with the lips, that he was 
honest, just and orthodox ; that for many years he had his conver- 
sation among us with godly and blameless manners; that during 
these 'many years he explained to us the gospel, and the books of 
the Old and New Testament, according to the exposition of the 
doctors approved by the Church ; and that he has left behind him 
writings, in which he denounces all heresy. He taught us to de- 
test everything heretical. He exhorted us to the practice of peace 
and charity, and his life exhibited a distinguished example of these 
virtues." 

The name of Unitas Fratrum, or United Brethren, was the re- 
sult of a formal union in 1457-'60, between the Moravians, Bohe- 
mians, and Waldenses,all of whom, afterwards, so far as they were dis- 
tinctively known, bore the title of United Brethren, commonly called 
Moravians. About this time lived Gregory, afterwards styled the 
Patriarch of the Brethren, and synods were frequently held for the 
promotion of their common interests. "A most important subject 
of their deliberations," says one of their historians, "both at their 
synods, and at other times was how to maintain a regular succession 
of their ministers, when those who now exercised the ministry should 



SnEKOMEKO. 



be removed by death or other causes." Suitable measures were 
therefore taken for this purpose, which have be< o constantly and 
regularly sustained up to the present day. The Moravians, like all 
the old Eastern Churches, claim to have practically, as well as 
theoretically maintained an uninterrupted BOC hops 

from the Apostolic times. And, notwithstanding all the fiery trials 
and persecutions through which they hav. they arc well 

able to establish that claim to the satis! • »nable and 

intelligent men It was made a special subject of investigation in 
the early part of the last century, by the very learned and celebra- 
ted Archbishop Potter, whose del n « illll >' endorsed 
by Dr. Powden, and the great mass of learned men in the Church 
whose attention has been called to this sub 

The Moravians were the first Christii : the 

newly invent, -1 art of print! H°lj 

Scriptures, in a livii neral distributi ; the 

people. The first edition wi - \ ice about I 

rated version of the Bible in any European 
languagi Before the coram Reformation by Lu- 

ther in 1517, 1 ie,J tlirc0 editions i 

Scriptures. 

After this, h vio " 

In the midsl of tl 

hopii 

rati, a wno wa * 

consecral ' who 

tedapplic 
„ Burope,andpi ticularly both ' ^er- 

whiol be belonged. N A 

■ laud 
and P 

of the I hurchol I i 



SHEKOMEKO. 



This brings us down to nearly the period, when under the direction 
of Christian David and Count Zinzendorff, who had just established 
themselves in Herrnhut, in Germany ; the Moravians commenced 
their very remarkable and successful labors among the heathen, and 
found their way for this purpose first to Greenland, in 1733 ; a mis- 
sion which has been singularly prosperous, and very noted up to the 
present day ; then to the Creek and Cherokee Indians in Georgia, 
under the pat.onage, and with the aid of the distinguished George 
Whitfield and John Wesley, in 1735 ; and then after the establish- 
ment of their colony at Bethlehem, their headquarters in this coun- 
try, to these shores, and to the Mohican and Wampano Indians at 
Shekomeko and its vicinity. 

In the language of the late celebrated poet James Montgomery 
who was himself a Moravian, brought up an orphan among the Mo- 
ravians, the son of Moravian parents, who died on the Missionary 
field in the West Indies, and the largest and most liberal support- 
er of the Moravian missions, 

Twaa thus through centuries she rose and fell, 

At length victorious seemed the gates of hell: 

But founded on a rock which cannot move — 

Th' eternal rock of the Redeemer's love — 

That church which Satan's legions thought destroyed. 

Her name extinct, her place forever void, 

Alive once more, respired her native air, 

But found no freedom for the voice of prayer. 

Then Christian David, strengthened from above ; 

Wise as the serpent, harmless as the dove : 

Bold as a lion on his Master's part, 

In zeal a seraph, and a child in heart, 

Plucked from the gripe of antiquated laws, 

(Even as a mother from the felon jaws 

Of a lean wolf that hears her babe away, 

With courage beyond nature rends the prey.) 

The little remnant of that ancient race. 

Far in Lnsatian wilds they found a place ; 

There — where the sparrow builds her busy nest. 

And the clime changing swallow loves to rest, 

Thine altar God of Hosts 1 there still appear 

The tribes to worship unassailed by fear; 

Not like their fathers vexed from age to age 

By blatant bigotry's insensate rage, 

Ahmad in every place, in every hour 

Awake, alert, and ramping to devour. 

No, peaceful as the spot where Jacob slept. 

And guard all night the journeying angels kept. 

Herrnhut yet stand-, amidst her .-heltered bowers; 

The Lord Lath set his watch upon her towers. 

Greenland. 



10 SHEKOMEKO. 



At Herrnhut, in the province of Upper Lusatia in Germany, 
was established upon the estate of Count Zinzendorf, a German 
nobleman, by the emigrant Bohemians and Moravians, the Church, 
to which through long ages of persecution and suffering, their an- 
cestors in the faith, like themselves, had most rigidly and faithfully 
adhered. 

The point in their organization to which they attached the ut- 
most importance, was strict adherence to the moilel of the 
Primitive Church, both in doctrine and practice, as it had been re- 
tained by them, for the most part, in conformity to the Greek rit- 
ual, but ever in determined and uncompromising hostility to the 
corruptions of Rome, from their Sclavonian ancestors in the primi- 
tive times. 

The Moravians have always refused to be recognizee! as a Sect, 
and have in numerous instances protested against the use of that 
term, as descriptive of their history or character. And though 
Beveral individuals, have at different times, attained tu great distinc- 
tion among them, yet they have steadily declined cither to place 
themselves under the direction of any individual leader, or to be 
known or recognized as the followers or adh< rents of any one man. 

The term by which they designate themselves, and by which they 
prefer in he desi ■_ ■ : ( :if <•<!, is that of United Brethren, as best des- 
criptive of the actual composition of the body, and as marking that 

great principle oi Christian unity, onwhioh th< 
as essential to the integrity of the Christian Church. 

In doctrine they are thoroughly sound and orthodox Their 
tern of faith would probably be regarded by the great mass of the 
Christian world bjeotionable than perhaps thai of any other 

Christian body now in existence ; harmonizing very closely with that 
of the Church of England, and avoiding with almost superhuman 
actness, on either hand, the peculiar dogmas of the Lutheran, the 
Calvinistio, and the Armenian Bystems, as well as the gross pollu- 
tion, tyranny ai ry of Rome And its practioal workii 
carried out in their extensive and \ erj extraordinary missionary oper- 
ations, pre* ui- a ph asing and most interestii pment of , 
tical and i \; irimcntal piety, in olose combination with Btricl sacra- 
mental observanoi a careful preparation i hand, for the 
re.-, ption of the appointed ordinances ofthi md the full re- 
cognition on the other, of all those spiritual grac fa which 



SHEKOMEKO. 11 



were uniformly held by all the early Christian Churches to belong 
to the sacramental seals of the covenant of God. Tin- zeal of the 
Moravian body, says William Wilberforce, " is a zeal tempered 
with prudence, softened with meekness, soberly aiming at great 
ends, by the gradual operation of well adapted means, supported by 
a courage which no danger can intimidate, and a quiet constancy 
which no hardships can exhaust."'' 

It is a remarkable, and very significant circumstance, that the 
founder of Methodism, the Rev. John Wesley, was a cotemporary 
with Count Zinzendorff, the distinguished Bishop of the Moravians ; 
and that for a considerable length of time, he was intimately asso- 
ciated with the Moravians, and derived directly from them the most 
important modifications and improvements of his religious character, 
and the germs and principles of that great religious movement, in 
which he 'was so prominent an actor. The Methodist Discipline 
was the work of John Wesley, at a period when he was in constant 
intercourse with the Moravians; who, by his own confession, became 
his teachers in some of the most important Christian principles, and 
especially in those which have constituted the real strength of 
Methodism up to the present time, the subjective influence of 
Christian Faith and Hope. 

The circumstance which first and most deeply affected him, was 
the calmness and composure which the Moravians were able to 
maintain in scenes of the greatest danger and terror. For example : 
During their passage from England to Georgia, they were over- 
taken by a furious storm, and while the missionaries were at prayers, 
a tremendous wave struck the vessel, and poured a flood of water 
over them. Wesley, thoroughly alarmed, cried out with conster- 
nation and fear ; while the Moravians, women and children, as well 
as men, quietly continued their devotions, with no apparent appre- 
hension or fear ; and as though that which they taught, were in- 
deed felt to be a reality ; that death was not loss, but gain. 

In many respects also Count Zinzendorff, and the Rev. John 
Wesley were kindred spirits. Both were exceedingly enthusiastic 
in their temperament. Both were greatly inclined to depend on 
their feelings and mental impressions, in matters of religion. And 
both from their youth, were strongly inclined to dwell upon the 
supernatural, in all the affairs of life. 

The Moravians, from the beginning, have confined their mission- 
ary labors to the conversion of the heathen. They have always 



12 STTEKOMEKO. 



held it unchristian to build upon other men's foundations, or to 
proselyte from other religions bodies, whose full christian character 
they recognized. And hence their establishments at Herrnhut in 
Germany, at Fulneck in England, and at Bethlehem in Pa., are 
little else than missionary colleges, adapted to preparation for the 
work which they regard as more peculiarly their own ; the preach- 
ing of the gospel to the heathen, and proclaiming the glad tidings of 
gospel grace to those who have never heard of a Saviour ; but are 
still sitting in the region and shadow of death. 

After their abandonment of the missions to the Indians in Geor- 
gia, which was dispersed on account of political troubles with the 
Spaniards, the Moravians sought the opportunity to engage in some 
other field of labor, where they might if possible, without interfer- 
ence, proclaim the glad tidings of salvation to the benighted savages 
of this, then new, and sparsely inhabited country. One of the 
Brethren, therefore, Christian Henry Rauch, was dispatched for 
this purpose to New York. 

The instructions given to such Missionaries were to this effect: — 
" That they should silently observe whether any of the heathen had 
been prepared by the grace of God to receive and believe the word 
of Life, [f even only one were to be fonnd, then they should 
preach the gospel to him ; for God must give the heathen cars to 
hear the gospel, and hearts to receive it, otl 11 their la 

upon them, would bo in vain. Tiny were to preach chiefly to such 
M had never heard of the gospel; not to build upon foundations 
laid b jturh their work, but to seek the outcasl 

and the foi saken, " 

Br. Rauch arrived a1 New JTork Jnly 16th, 1740, when he un- 
. met with the Missionary Frederic Martin, from St. Thom- 
as, West ] by whom he was introduced to Beveral influential 
as, who, i' was thought, would take an interest in the work, 
and from whom he to derive information with reference to 
the Indians, and with regard t» the best mode Of gaining an influ- 

with tlnin ; hut they unanimously discouraged the attempt, 

telling bim plainly t! a thus tar an utter 

failure ; thai the I d vii ioue and 
abandom I at their improvemi u( or re- 
formation, ronld 1 well as utterly in rain. N< 
all di this rcpn 
acteristic of the Moravians, ded to seel out an em 1 



SITEKEMEKO. 13 



of Mohican Indians, who had lately arrived in New York on busi- 
ness with the Colonial Government, and sought an opportunity of 
conversing with them, which he found he could do in the Dutch 
language, with which from their intercourse with the Dutch settle- 
ments along the Hudson river, he found that they were slightly ac- 
quainted. At his first visit, and indeed for a considerable length 
of time, he found them in a state of beastly intoxication, and ter- 
ribly ferocious in their appearance and manners. Carefully watch- 
ing, however, an opportunity of finding them sober, he at last ad- 
dressed himself to two of the principal chiefs, Tschoop, and Sha- 
bash, and without ceremony asked them whether they wished for a 
teacher to instruct them in the way of salvation, Tschoop answered 
in the affirmative, adding that he frequently felt disposed to know 
better things than he did ; but knew not how nor where to find 
them, therefore if any one would come and instruct him and his ac- 
quaintance, he should be thankful. Shabash also giving his assent, 
the missionary rejoiced to hear the declaration, considered it as a 
call from Grod, and promised at once to accompany them and to vis- 
it their people, upon which "they declared him to be their teacher 
with true Indian solemnity." 

The place to which the devoted Missionary, led by these wild 
savages, now directed his steps, was Shekomeko, the beautiful In- 
dian name of the region now known as Pine Plains, Dutchess Co., 
N. Y. The site of the ancient Indian village was about two 
miles south of the present village, near "the Bethel." It was lo- 
cated on the farm now occupied by Mr. Edward Hunting, a most 
beautiful and romantic spot ; such a spot as those who appreciate 
the nobler traits of the Indian character, would be prepared to find 
a chosen Indian haunt; and where a passing traveller might even 
now almost be dissappointed not to be startled by the native whoop 
of the wild and ferocious red man of the forest, or at least to be 
charmed by the sweeter music of the Christian hymns taught them 
by the faithful Moravians, who in their Missionary huts, or in the 
woods and groves by which they were surrounded, often called to mind 
the favorite lines sung by the ancient Bohemian brethren : 

The nigged rock?,_the dreary -wilderness, 
Mountains and woods are our appointed place; 
Midst storms and waves, on heathen shores unknown. 
"We have our temple, and serve God alone. 

The proper Indian name Shekomeko, or Chicomico, is still in 



14 SEEKOMEKO. 



good taste retained, for the stream which rising near "The Feder- 
al Square," runs in a northerly direction, near the site of the an- 
cient Indian village Shekoraeko, and unites with the Roelif Jansen's 
Creek in Columbia County. 

Br. Rauch arrived at Shekoraeko August ltjth, 1740, and was 
received in the Indian manner with great kindness. He immediate- 
ly spoke to them on the subject of man's redemption, and they lis- 
tened with marked attention. But on the next day when he began 
to speak with them, he perceived with sorrow, that his words exci- 
ted derision; and at last, they openly laughed him to scorn. Not 
discouraged, however, by this conduct; he persisted in visiting the 
Indians daily in their huts, representing to them the evil of sin, and 
extolling the grace of God revealed in Jesus Christ, and the full 
atonement made by him, as the ouly way by which they might be 
saved from perdition. In these labors he encountered many hard- 
ships. Living after the Indian manner, he had no means of transit 
from one place to another, but on foot through the wilderness. And 
suffering from heat and fatigue, he was often denied even the poor 
shelter of an Indian hut for refreshment and re.-t. 

His labors, however, did not long continue without their reward. 
The Indians became gradually more attentive to his instructions; 
and impressed with the devoted zeal with which he evidently la- 
bored for their good, so different from the ordinary conduct of the 
white man towards them, they began to treat him with greater con- 
fidence and respect. The first who discovered any serious earnestness 
Em salvation, and d instructed in the gospel was Tschoop, 

one of the two Indian^ whom the Missionary had met in New 
York ; the greatest drunkard, and the most oitrageons villain 
among them. To the ght of the Missionary he asked : 

"What efiect the blood of the Sun of God -lain on the oross ooold pro- 
duce in the heart of man?" and he thus opem d the way to a full expla- 
nation of the scheme of salvation through the blood and atonement of 
.1 mi Christ. Bbabash also soon began to exhibit a similar inter- 
est. And the work of the Holy spirit, oonvinoing them of sin be- 
came remarkably evident in thehearta • heir 
eyes would overflow with tears, whi oever the faithful Moravian de- 
scribed to them th< mfl rings and death* leemer. This 
unusual elect of the preaching ol the gospel upon ti I des- 
pised Indians, who were commonly regtrded by the whites, as a 
horde of abandoned and iinurii^ille wretcJ I their 



SHETTOMEKO. 15 



attention. And the missionary, who came to preach to the heathen, 
was now invited to preach to the white settlers also about Shekome- 
ko, whose language, and especially whose vices, the degraded hea- 
then had but learned too well. 

The change which took place in the character and conduct of 
Tschoop was very striking. For he had been notorious for his wild- 
ness and recklessness, and had even made himself a cripple by his 
debauchery. Having become a preacher and an interpreter among 
the Indians, he related after the following manner, the occasion 
and circumstances of his conversion : 

" Brethren, I have been a heathen, and have grown old among the 
heathen, therefore I know how the heathen think. Once a preacher 
came and began to explain to us that there was a God. We an- 
swered : Dost thou think we are so ignorant as not to know that ? 

Go back to the place from whence thou earnest. Then again, anoth- 
er preacher came and began to teach us and to say, you must not 
steal, nor lie, nor get drunk, &c. We answered : Thou fool, dost 
thou think that we don't know that ? Learn first thyself, and then 
teach the people to whom thou belongest, to leave off these things, for 
who steal and lie, or who are more drunken than thine own people ? 
And thus we dismissed him. After some time Brother Christian 
Henry Eauch came into my hut and sat down by me. He spoke to 
me nearly as follows : I come to you in the name of the Lord of Hea- 
ven and Earth. He sends to let you know that he is willing to make 
you happy, and to deliver you from the misery in which you are at 
present. To this end he became a man, gave his life as a ransom 
for man, and shed his blood for him. When he had finished, he lay 
down upon a board, being fatigued with his journey, and fell into a 
sound sleep. I then thought what kind of a man is this « There 
he lies and sleeps, I might kill him and throw him into the woods, 
and who would regard it? But this gives him no concern. How- 
ever, I could not forget his words. They constantly recurred to my 
mind. Even when I slept I dreamed of that blood which Christ shed 
for us. This was something different from what I had ever before 
heard. And I interpreted Christian Henry's words to the other 
Indians." 

But now many of the white settlers, who, while they corrupted and 
abused, and vilified the Indians, lived upon their vices, and made 
large gams especially by their drunkenness, conceived that their in- 
terests would be injured by the success of the Missionary. They 



SITEKOMEKO. 
lo . 

therefore birred DP the more vicious Indians and raised a persecution 
":l;hin, :l nd!.veni ! them to M-b 1* « *.« 

Sheave the place. — ->, a then* parr, to hn> 

derthei L work which he had begun am '■-to 

Lducctfl ible, into their i ; llfc > k ' ' 

(markable ,budbecomesonotorious through- 

out the country. . 

la thia extremity the name of John Rau should aedwnh 

honor, for his noble and disinterested protection and . the 

persecuted Moravian. B , his warn and steadfestfnend.- 

knd during all their subsequent troubl the faithful and un- 

tiring advocate of the de, ries; and until a: last, by an 

unjust and P e. Tnment, they were 

driven from the province, he still and persuaded other, to 

adhere, to thi 

Br. Bauch, by his meek and pe 
and cautious conduct, and his undaunt. ' »» 

enemies, and sowing the word of God in team, for a fmu- 
in g; • lined the ( 

of the Indian. B 
And 

fr.,,,1 the manifold dim h:ui 

and the 

1., it 11 itww '"""" 

Uow-laboi 
at this period l Bethleh 

a and aid 

died up, and pn 
oft: oa,andwb 

grcv H 

I 

■ 
new, and hall 



nUymau, baptised th* *» 



SHEKOMEKO. 17 

veils who had accompanied theni from Shekuineko : tin- liist fruits ■•< 
perhaps the most remarkable Indian mission on record. * Tschoop was 
not anions them. From his lameness he had been unable to take the 
long journey. 

He was, however, baptized at Shekomeko on the loth of April 
following, receiving the christian name of Johu. 

The following is a portion of the letter dictated to the brethren on 
the occasion above referred to when his companions were baptized : 

"1 have been a poor, wild heathen, and torfortj years as ignorant as 

a dog. I was the greatest drunkard, and the most willing slave of 
the devil: and as I kn-.w nothing of our Saviour, I served vain idols, 
which I now wish to Bee destroyed with fire, of tins 1 have repented 
with man; tears. When 1 heard that Jesus was also the Saviour of the 
heathen, and that I ought to give him my heart, I felt a drawing 
within me towards him. But miy wife and children were my ene- 
mies ; and my greatest enemy was my wife's mother. She told me 
that I was worse than a dog, if 1 no mote believed in her idol. Bui 
my eyes being opened, I understood thai what she said was altogethet 
folly, for I knew thai she had received her idol from her ^rand-mo- 
ther. If is made of leather, and decorated with wampum, and she, 
being the oldest person in the house, made us worship it; which we 
have done, till our teacher came, and told us of the Lamb of God, who 
shed His blood, and died for us poor ignorant people. 

■• Now i feel and believe, that our Saviour alone can help me, t>\ 
the power of Hia blood, and no other. I believe that he is my God 
and my Saviour, who died on the cross for me a sinner. I wish to 
be baptized, and long for ii most ardently. I am lame, and cannot 
travel in winter; but in April or May I will come to you. 

"1 am your poor wild 

•' Tschoop/' 

The wonderful change which had taken place in this wild Indian, 
and in the others who had been baptized, awakened the attention of 
the other Indians, and from twenty and thirty miles round, they con- 
stantly flocked to Shekomeko, to hear the new preacher, who spoke, 
to use their own language, " of a God who became a man, and had 



* These three Indian-; wereShabash baptized Abraham ; Seim, Isaac ; 
and Kiop, Jacob. 



IS SHEKOMEKO. 



loved the Indian* so much that he gave up his life to rescue them 
from the devil, and from the service of sin." 

In the summer of 171-2, the mission at Shekom. ko was visited by 
the Bishop Count Zinzeudorff, who was on fJ a accompanied 

by his beautiful and interesting da nigua. They crossed the 

country from Bethlehem in Pennsylvania 'to Esopus (now Kingston), 
and arrived at Shekomeko on the 27th of August, u aftet passing 
through,'" to use his own a, "dreadful wildernesses, woods 

and swamps, in which he and his companions Buffered great hard- 
ships." Br. Rauch received them into his hut with great joy, and 
the day following, lodged them in a col . irk Count Zinzen- 

dorff afterwards declared this cottage to have been the most agreeable 
dwelling he had ever inhabited. On the occasion of this visit six 
Indians were baptized by the missionary Ranch. A regular congre- 
gation was then formed, the first congregation of believing Indian* 
established in Xorth America, consisting often persons. 

September 4th, 1742, Count Zinzendorff took leave of this inter- 
.-ting mission, and was accompanied to Bethlehem by two Indian* 
as guides, who were there baptized by Gottlob Bu.-ttner, and called 
respectivelv I >avid and Joshua. Count Zinzendortl assisted in the ad- 
ministration. This was the first baptism of Indians at Bethlehem. 

October 1st, 1742, Gottlob Buettner and hi* wife rejoined the miss- 
ionary Rauch at Shekomeko, and devoted themselves with groat energy 
and success t-> the instruction of the Indian-, constantly r.-ading to 
them the Hob - i 1 explaining t" them the doctrines of 

the Word of < I 

December 6th, 17-12 was laid out a burying-ground for the use of 
the baptized, die same in which the missionary Buettner|was after- 
wards buried At the end of the year 1742, the Dumber of baptised 
Indians in Bhekomeki 

About this time arrived Martin Mack and his wife I n the 

mission. Br. Black how< took charge of the station at P 

gatgoch, (no* S | where the suooess of the M 

raviaui was even greater than a( Shekomeko, and where at int. u 
the] continued to labor for more Mian twenty years, A portion oi 
the tril.e i- -till remaining, and their history is full ofmelanoholj in 
by of an imperishable reoonl 

M.u. I. 18th, 1743. I il Communion was, after due pt 
ration, foi the firs) time, administered to the firstlings ol Indian 
nation- v Shekomeki It t^as preceded bys : . 1 followed 



SHEEOMEKO. 19 



by the Pedilavium, or washing of one another's feet, both of which 
are established customs among the Moravians. The missionary writes : 
" While I live I shall never lose the impression this first communion 
with the Indians in North America made upon me." 

In July, 1743, the new chapel at Shekomeko was linished and con- 
secrated. The building was thirty feet long and twenty broad. It 
was entirely covered with smooth bark. It is represented to have 
been a very appropriate and commodious building, quite striking in 
its appearance, and of great convenience to the mission. It was con- 
stantly open on Sundays and on Festival occasions ; and the greatest 
interest was exhibited by thp Indians in the religious services which 
were regularly and constantly held in their new chapel. But troubles 
uow began again to thicken upon the missionaries and their new con- 
verts. " The white people who had been accustomed to make the 
dissolute lite ot' the Indians, but chiefly their love of ardent spirits, 
subservient to their advantage, were greatly enraged when they saw 
that the Indians began to turn from their evil doings, and to avoid 
all those sinful practices which had been so profitable to the traders. 
They therefore caught at every false rumor and evil imputation which 
wa3 put in circulation against the missionaries. They were publicly 
branded with the epithets of papists and traitors; and the public au- 
thorities, l.oth in New York and Connecticut, were called upon to 
interfere for the purpose of banishing them from the country. Three 
of them were taken up at Paehgatgoch, and after being dragged up 
and down the country for three days, they were, upon a hearing, hon- 
orably dismissed by the Governor of Connecticut ; yet their accusers 
insisted upon their being bound over in a penalty of one hundred 
pounds to keep the laws of the country, when they immediately 
retired to Shekomeko. whither they were followed by many of the 
Indians, whom they had instructed, and where many others con- 
stantly resorted to them to re ■ iv< their instructions. 

No charges could be mure preposterous and utterly without foun- 
dation, than tie the harmless Mora- 
v »»n8i who previous history as a people, consisted of little 
else than an account of tb< -., utions 
and Bufferings, which, on account of them, they had endured 
at the hand of the Church of Rome; and who had always 
made it a fixed principle of their policy, never to interfere with the 
polities of the countries where they Bojourned, but to labor simply fov 
the spiritual benefit i : their fellow-men ; even offering -though the 



•30 -HEKOMEKU 



sacrifice was not required — to sell themselves foe slaves id the West 
Indies, in order to gain an opportunity ofinstructing the poor negroes, 
and who were rewarded for such self-devotion, by almost unbounded 
success, iu a short period numbering their converts by thousands 
among that neglected and degraded race. 

Just previous to the departure of Count Zinzendorfl to Europe, in 
ihe beginning of the year 1748, he sent Br Shaw to Bhekomeko as 
;i schoolmaster to the Indian children : and not long alter the Breth- 
ren Pyrleus, ami Senseman, and Frederic Post, (the last <>!' whom 
u.ii! married a baptized Indian woman) with their wives, joined the 
mission. 

At the no-.' of tie \ ear l 743, tie- congregation of baptized Indians 
in Shekomeko consisted ..t' sixty-three persons, exclusive of those be- 
longing to the neighboring station at Pachgatgoch, and a much 
greater number of constant and regular bearers. 

A hi.ut this time however commenced tin- difficulty the 

French and English Governments, with reference i- the Colonial 
boundaries, which a fe\» years afterwards, resulted in the bloody war 
hi whi<h our great and good Washington first distinguished himself 

;is a soldier. In the intrigues c scted with these troubles, I ■• Eb 

mish Jesuits, as usual, were inceasantlj employed on the part of the 
French, to alienate the various Indian tribes from the English col 
and to prepare them, in the event "i war, to act efficiently in their 
t'avor, in t. est. Ihe tears "(tie- white settlers in all 

parts of the country were thoroughly alarmed. Ihe Indians 
'^enerallv looked upon as enemies; and anj man who 
them, was ahi: 9 a oonfidaul or spy •>(' the 

French, ••■ and malignant Jesuits. 

This state "i the public mind afforded an excellent oppoitunitj 
the ei fthemissio Shekomeko to give currei 

and injurious reports with reference i<> them. Thej were <•!. 

with being Papists J rite in disguise, who we nlj preps 

the oolonisui ; and the] 
■Msjaei of having a r that pin;-. i • ■ report 

terrified the inhabitai ,k . that man] of them forsook their farmt 

Hatahl ■ ; • M r. J ■■ ■ n I Ma 

\ille. or Littk I 

■ tries, that ii was bii dot] to inquire what wrl ot ;• >ple th« 

t,.i that the n parous tei • 



SHEKOMEKO. 21 



them ; that for himself, however, he gave no credit to the lying re- 
ports which were circulated concerning them, and he was fully con- 
vinced that the mission at Shekomeko was indeed a work of God. 
because by the labors of the Brethren, the most savage heathen had 
been so evidently changed, that he and many other christians were 
put to shame by their godly walk and conversation. Buettner, the 
principal missionary, was at this time absent in Bethlehem. Imme- 
diately upon his return, the missionaries were summoned to L'ickipsi 
(Poughkeepsie) to exercise with the militia, which they refused on the 
ground that as ministers of the Gospel, they could not legally be 
required to bear anus. 

On June 24th. 1744, a Justice of the Peace arrived at Shekomeko 
from Pickipsi to examine into the whole affair. He admitted that the 
accusations made against the missionaries were entirely groundless. 
Hut he required them to take two oaths, as involving the matters 
concerning which they had been accused, and which had been the 
occasion of the interference of the Government : 

1st. That King George being tlie lawful sovereigu of the kingdom, 
they would not in any way encourage the Pretender. 

2d. That they rejected Transubstantiatiou. the worship of the Vir- 
gin Mary, Purgatory, <V< . 

To every point contained in these oaths. Buettner assured him that 
they could entirely agree. And though they could not in good con- 
science take an oath, being restrained by the religious principles which 
.(- members of the Brethrens Church they had adopted, yet they 
were willing to be bound to the last extremity, by their asseveration, 
Yes, or No. The Justice expressed bis satisfaction for the present, 
but required them to be bound over in a penalty of forty pounds to 
appear before the court in Pickipsi OB the 10th of October following. 

On June 22d they were summoned to Iieinbeck, where they were 
• ailed upon in public court, before Justice Beekmau, to prove that 
they were privileged teachers. Buettner produced his written voca- 
tion, and his certificate of ordination, duly signed by Bishop David 
Nitschman. 

And agaiu on the 14th of July, on account of the increasing pub- 
lic dissatisfaction, they were required by the magistrates to appear at 
Filkentown; and here, while uo reliable testimony appeared against 
them, their firm friend John Kau appeared in their favor, and gave a 
decisive and noble testimony from his own intimate knowledge, in 
their defence. 



22 SHEKOMEKO. 



In the mean time their adversaries had repeatedly accused them 
thi Bon. George Clinton, then Governor of the Colony of He* 

\ ork, until he finally resolved to Bend f>.>y them, and to examine into 
the truth of these startling reports. Bnettner and Beneeman, from 
Shekomeko, and Shaw, from Bethlehem, went accordingly to New 
^*"^k. and found, upon their arrival, thai th<- attention of the whole 
'.own was aroused concerning them. Mr. Justice Beekman, however. 
who bad before examined them in Eteinbeck, publicly took their part 
m New York, and affirmed that "the lt<""! done by them amongthe 
Indian- was undeniable/ 1 

Hie commencement of these nrooeedii g« before (the Governo 
Sew York was at :i Council, held at the Council Chamber, in the 
• Sty of N<-\\ ^i ork, on the fifth of July, IT 14, at which his Bxcellencj 
communicated to the Board, thai he bad Bent letters to Col. Henry 
Heekinan, on.- of hi- Majesty's Justic* - of the Peace for Ihitchess Co. 
and Col. <»f the Militia for that county ; acquainting him with the 
information which be bad received concerning tl N ' mans, and 
requiring him to make tb ■ investigation. 

His Excellency also communicated t.. the Board, a letter from Col. 
Beekniui in the effect that then were four Moravian Priests and 
many Indians at Bchacomico, and that be bad mail.' s.-.-irdi for arms 
and ammunition, hut could find none, nor beat .'ran), But that be- 
fore the receipt order, the Sheriff, Justice of the 
• and eight otb mico, where they found all th»' 
Indian- at work on their plantations, who Beemed in a consternation 
at the approach of the Sheriff and hi- company, but received them 
•ivill- thej found no ammunition and as few arms as could 
rpected for such a Dumber of men. L'hut i>'.'\ denied that the] 
• •■1 t.i the crown, Baying that they therosi 
afrai<l oft h an. I of their In.li.-in-. and that their only 

it Bchacomico wac to gain bouLb among the heathen, rhatthe] 
bad s i.i ion from the Archbishop of Canterbury, and were read} 
to show tl otials. 1 ha: the Justice demanded >'t' them t" tak< 

the oath-, hut they refused, a- they alleged, through a scruple of 

And i ha' ih.' Justice then bound them over to answer what 
should be obj< 

i |., n tl of the mi 1 1 Shaw ind S< i 

■■'•II • Council, tl 

; and were made lh< ••ml and deliberate invei 

fipati..fi An.l at R Bubsequenl in< i ting of the < ouncil, it wa» ponclti 



SHEKOMEKO. 28 



ded — "As to the Moravian Priests : The General Assembly of this 
Province having ordered in a Bill for the securing this his Majesty'* 
Government, the Council were of opinion to advise his Excellency to 
Order the Moravian Priests back to their homes, and required them to 
live there peaceably, and await the further orders of his Excellency.'' 
The prosecution of the Moravians thus far was under the Provin- 
cial law against the Jesuits, passed July 31st, 1700. The Bill above 
referred to, passed the Colonial Assembly, Sept. 21st, 1744. It. ex- 
pired by its own limitation Sept. 21st, 1745. Only the Title is pub- 
lished in any copy of the Colonial Laws, to which the writer has been 
able, as yet, to gain access. But that it was to the last degree unjust 
and persecuting, evidently appears from all the documentary evidence 
connected with it. indeed the earnest Protest of Count Zinzendorfi, 
and other leading Moravians, together with the demand of the Board 
of Trade for an explanation, induced the Governor and Council to 
publish officially, the reasons which they supposed had influenced the 
Assembly in the passage of the law — a document which for its miscon- 
ceptions of the real character of the zealous and good men against 
whom it was aimed, and the odious imputations which it casts upon 
them, is seldom equalled.* It is some palliation, perhaps, of these per 
securing measures, that the public mind was exceedingly sensitive, 
and that the whole country was filled with rumors to the prejudice of 
the harmless Moravians. But, on the other hand, it is equally true, 
that they had fully proved themselves clear of every charge that had 
been preferred against them, and finally secured a full vindication by 
the highest authority of the British Government ; for by an Act of 
the British Parliament, passed May 12th, 1749 : 

1 . "The Unitas Fratrum were acknowledged as an ancient Protes- 
tant Episcopal Chnrch. 

2. Those of its members who scrupled to take an oath were ex- 
empted from it, on making a declaration in the presence of Al- 
mighty God, as witness of the truth. 

3. They were exempted from acting as jurymen. 

4. They were entirely exempted from military duty under rea- 
sonable conditions." 

Such was the ultimate result of the remonstrances of the Moravian." 
to the British and colonial governments ; a result, however, so tard\ 
as that, though it aided their subsequent missionary efforts, it was ye\ 



"•Doc. Hist, of N". York, Vol. Ill, Page 1032 



U SHEKOMEKO 



nf" little or Hi) service t«> the poor Christian [ndians and their sett 
denying teaehera at Bhekomeko. 

I i. 9th, 17 II, Baettner was again required to appear at Pic 

kipsi, lint was again h rably dismissed. Bo that, notwithstanding 

all the trouble and vexation to which they had been subjected, they 
were found to 1"- entirely innocent, and had established the convic- 
tion "m the mind- of th< •_.. al mass of the people, of their entire 
sincerity, and of the • I arising from their labours 

Their adversaries were therefore foiled in this direction. But 
they had adopted other expedients, which were more successful 
for on the fifteenth D tnber, 1744, the Sheriff and three Jus 
tices of th« Peace arrived at Shekomeko, and in the name oi 
Governor and Council of New Fork, prohibited nil meetings of the 
Brethren, and commanded the missionaries to appear before the 
t'uiirt at Pickipsi, on the seventeenth Buettnerbeingill,thc othei 
missionaries alone appeared, when the Act before referred to, which 

had been pa 1 with Bpi irence to their ease, was read to 

them ; by which the ministers of the congregation of the Brethren, 
employed in teaching the [ndians, were expelled the country, under 
pretence of being in league with the French, and forbidden, nndei 
a heavy penalty, ever mor< to appear among the [ndians, without 
having first taken the oaths of allegianci 

Soon afterwards the station at SI was visited by the 

Moravian Bishop, \ <; with the view of devising 

means by which the missionaries might still carry on theii 
work. Bui all in vain After a staj of two weeks, be was obliged 
to leave the converted Indiana and their friends, still ex] oaed to all 
the evil influences by which thoj were surrounded. 

\ii'l not long niter," says the Moravian historian, " the white 
people came to a resolution to drive the believing Indians from 
Shekomeko, by main foro< , on pretence that the ground on whicl 
the town was buill belong) d to others The white people took 

■ a of the land, and then appointed a watch to pr< venl all visits 
from ' thleln m 

Thus, l> such unworth) means, was summarily broken up and 
dispersed, the mosl promising, and the most important, n issioa t< 
the Aborigines in this country whioh had as yet been established 

a mil ion which, if it had oontinued, might havi preserved > 
remnant oi thai unhappj people, who were soon afterward disported 



SHEKOMEKO. 35 



and scattered abroad, never again to be gathered, and never again 
to be blessed with such noble and self-denying teachers, as the faith- 
ful Moravians, who labored with such devoted zeal at Shekomeko. 

Gottlob Buettner soon ended his weary pilgrimage. He gently 
and happily fell asleep in Christ on Feb. 23d, 1745, in the twenty- 
ninth year of his age. Blessed be his memory. The Indians wept 
over him like children over a beloved parent. They dressed his 
corpse in white, and buried him with great solemnity in the bury- 
ing ground at Shekomeko, watering his grave with their tears, and 
for a long time afterwards they used to visit and weep over it. The 
stone afterwards placed over his grave contained the following in- 
scription, in German : "Here lies the body of Gottlob Buettner, 
" who according to the commandment of his crucified God and Sa- 
• v viour, brought the glad tidings to the heathen, that the blood ot 
"[Jesus had made an atonement for their sins. As many as em- 
" braced this doctrine in faith were baptized into the death of the 
" Lord. His last prayer was that they might be preserved until the 
u day of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was born Dee 29th, 1716, 
" and fell asleep in the Lord February 23d, 1745," 

Only a small portiou of this stone, very much mutilated ami 
scarcely at all intelligible, is still preserved. The locality is still 
shown by the proprietor, Mr. Edward Hunting, as also the locality 
of the missionary buildings, some portions of the foundations of 
which are still recognized. The orchard planted by the missionaries 
has within a few years past, with the exception of a single apple- 
tree, entirely disappeared ; and the medicinal roots which they culti- 
vated have, until quite recently, refused to quit their home in the 
soil, but, as if prompted by the instinct of Moravian zeal and love 
to man, have remained a blessing to those who have since continu- 
ed to dwell about the spot. 

The effect of the persecuting measures of their enemies, and the 
death of their beloved teacher, was exceedingly disheartening to the 
poor Indians. A portion of them removed to Pachgatgoch, where 
they attempted to make themselves a home among the tribe which 
resided there. Another portion formed a colony at Wechquatnack, 
on the eastern border of Indian Pond, [Indian, Wequagnok, or 
Wequodnoc,J in the town of Sharon, Ot. And at this place was 
formed an Indian congregation under the charge of the Moravians 
David Bruce, a Moravian missionary, r a Scotchman by birth, was 
appointed to the station, where he died greatly lamented in 17-J'. 1 
When the soil came into the possession of the present occupant, Mr 



bHEKOMEKO 



Andrew Lake. I missing; but a portion of it con- 

taining the inscription \s .uud, laid as a common stone 

into a stone wall. The inscription is as follows : " David Bruce, 
"from JSdinburg Scotland^, Minister of the Brethren's Church 

" among the Indian- Departed 1 ! 

Vi'tor th' Indian- at Wechquatnack, a Moravian 

■ ougregation of whife p< ns to have been established on 
the west* in Pond in the town of North East, on 
the present ferm of Mr. Don iri Here was a meeting 
house built, which was standing ontQ within a few years ; and near 
the spot, in an adjoining burying ground, is the grave of the Rev. 
Joseph Powell — doubtless the Moravian missionary of that name 

\- appears from tin- stone which stood at his grave, he died in 

1774, aged 63." 

Another portion ui the Indian congregation at Shekmueku emi- 
grated with thru i hey attempted 
m a colon, v. which was fruitless. Tin name given to this col- 
ony, as Significant "1 the condition aud hopes of the Indians, was 
Freidenshuttt-n — (Tents ol P< These Indians finally s. 
at Gnailcnhutt- tg the Christian Indians 
who setth «l iln Indian interpreter, John, formerly 
Tschoop. John finally I victim, at Bethlehem, of thai 
rible the [ndi hi athen," 

Moravian historian, " John distinguisl bj hie -inl'ul 

practices. And u- hi- vices became thi eductive on account 

■ ii' his natural wit ind humoi . ' 

powerful and i lion 

tified bj tl iployed in i 

a manner as to I"- the means of blessing, both to Europeans and 
Indian- i hie countrymen could vie with him in point of 

Indian oratory B were roll of animation, and hie 

woni ke fire into thi f his countrymen. In 

nhort tin Bfl to . and 

♦17 

ich.— 
In thi ' 
cal U 
. ■ 

'- Their 
whit. ra in 1 >ui i New Voi k .•• verm 

ikii'i obtained a minister from Bethlehem. I if the 

Unit**! Brathn 101 



SffEKOMEKO. 



was four years active in this service. Noi was ht less respected 
a chief among the Indians; no affair's of state being transacted 
without his advice and consent. During his illness, the believing 
Indians went often, and stood weeping around his bod. Even then 
he spoke, with power and energy, of the truth of the ^<>spel, and in 
all things he approved himself, to his la>t breath, as a minister of 
God." 

John died at Bethlehem, August 27th, 17 JO, where his remains 
now lie buried with those of many other Indians. 

Driven from their ancestral home, and deprived of their new born 
Christian privileges and hopes, by the rapacious and unprincipled 
hostility of the white man, the ultimate dispersion and final annihil- 
ation of this interesting tribe of Indians, is only the more affecting, 
because they had exhibited so great a capacity for Christian instruc- 
tion, and because their whole history places in so strong a light, the 
fact, that the vices of the white man, his rapacity , deceit and cruelty , 
have exiled the red man from his country, from his native soil and 
heritage, and irrespective of good or evil on his part, have nearl) 
supplanted him from the face of the earth 

From the execution of the Act of the Colonial Government be- 
fore referred to, it became impossible of course for the Moravians 
to continue their labors among the heathen within the Province of 
New York. And its effects were most disastrous upon the Mission- 
in Connecticut, and caused their final abandonment, for fields where 
the devoted missionaries ruighl enjoy the freedom of religious liber- 
ty, and the opportunity to carry on their self denying labors, with- 
out the restraint of penal law-;, and without the petty annoyance of 
a government nominally free, bu1 in this ease, at least, practically 
tyrannical and unjust. 

The hostility to Jesuit influence which so strongly appears iu this 
history of the Moravians at Shekoi in itself better founded, 

had its direction been intelligent, and uninfluenced by those who 
cared less for the Jesur their own private purposes 

and ends. The Ji igainst the ttovern- 

ment, and exri _ [nsl the Kngli9h 

Colonies. The < -1>1 French war •■'■ be work of the Jesuit* 

And the Indian ho d< - themselves which gave so terrible an aspect 
to that war, w< illy led On by Romish Jesuits disguised in 

the garb of Indians. And to them was mainly due the terrible fe- 
rocity by which thai wai rikingbj characterized 



26 SHEKOMEKO. 



The Colonial Government, as well as that of the mother country, 
had for a long time been aware of this fact. And hence by the 
provincial laws, not only a known Jesuit, but any man suspected of 
being a Jesuit, \vi- put upon hi- trial, and if convicted, was banish- 
ed from the colony of New York on pain of perpetual imprisonment, 
and in case of escape from prison, of death. 

To such as are not familiar with the infamous political intrigues 
and wholesale treachery of the minions of Rome, and especially of 
the Order of Jesuits, so stringent a law may seem too severe, and 
may seem to partake of a persecuting character. But it must be 
observed that it was aimed at them, not as members of a Christian 
Society as such, but as necessarily by the principles which they had 
adopted and the oaths by which they were bound, traitors and spies 
in the country, whose leading purpose was rsion of even 

Protestant government, and the bringing in of. the dominant power 
of Rome. And as opportunity offered the vile spirit of these malig- 
nant principles and oaths, have always been carried out in practice 
in every treacherous and treasonable form, the extent of 

overthrowing governments, and of deposing kings, and declaring 
their subjects absolved from their allegiance, thereby inculcating as 
a sacred duty, upon all members of the Church of Koine, whol- 
-on, murder, and rebellion. 

Thnf i I .'land, to say nothing of tin other governments of 

Kur ■ John in 1210, King Henry A' III, in 1538, Queen 

Elisabeth in 1569, ind finally George II, in 

. aliout ti: - vious to the expulsion of the Moravians 

t'roni S anathemal ind their sub- 

■ ■"! from their allegiance by th< I ' pes of Rome.* 

And it if authentic history, that in the troublous time* 

ad Qm i a Elizabeth, many ol the mo-t turhulentand 
f the Puril 
in thi I 

kw, th. least justifiable, if nol 

. d( manded bj the The great 

thai it should have been used for a purpose for which 

it w:i itilV the malioe or allay the fears of 

aid at all the barml ins from 



I Art ill 



SHEKEMEKO. 2» 

the country, without regard to the purity of their purpose, or the 
righteousness of their cause ; and the greater misfortune still that it 
should have led to the passage of another law against the Moravians 
by name, of the most odious, unjust, and persecuting character. 









' 






